woman: this is "bbc world news america." is made possible the freeman foundation; by judy ter blum-kovler foundation, pursuing solutions for edamerica's neglected and by contributions to this pbs station from viewers like you. thank yo laura: this is "bbc world news america."

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reporting from washington, i a laura trevelyan. the dow jones ves 800 points on fears of a recession. president trump points the finger at the fed. even the arctic can no longer escape plastic pollution. the snow is no longer pure and the damage is raising alarms for ldfe and residents. >> you look around you and you see something that you think is the pristine arctic, and it is not anymore. laura: plus, two ads in britain are pulled for gender stereotypes. i does tustry need to rethink how they sell? laura: for those watching on pbs and around the globe, welcome to "wor news america." it was a brutal day on the markets, with the dow jones dropping 800 points.

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fears of recession and worrying signs from abroad combined to make traders anxious. as it was unfolding, psident trump was tweeting about the federal reserve, calling the chairman clueless. for more i spoke with the bbc's michelle fleury in new york. whateay spooked the markets, michelle? michelle: a couple of things. first of all, you had signs from the bond market flashing red where basically we hns that holding longer term debt would be less rewarding than holding shorter-term a sign that investors don't have confidence in the prospects of the economy going forward, and an indicator historically speaking that a recession made beyond the horizon. the last time we saw this happen, sort of an version, to -- this sort of inversion, to use the jargon, was in 2007. a lot of concern. that was the symptom. the illness, if you like, was

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signs from the global economy that a recession may be looming. that came in the form of china' industrial output, which was weaker than expected and showeda growits weakest level in 17 years. there were also concerns about by .1%y, where gdp shran between april and june. eaall of this exacerbating at a time when the u.s. is in the middle of a trade disputt with china tows no end in sight. laura: of course, michelle, the president hates to seeveis bestock market fall. what is he saying about the u.s. central bank?ah michelle: this is one of the indicators he likes to point to as a sign of how well his handling of the economy is going. e problem for him is that at the moment, all the signaledare flashing he has been taking to twitter, something of a tweetstorm, basically calling jay powell, chairman of the federal reserve, america's central bank, clueless, and railing against it for not doing more to cut rates. it looks like they will be

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forced to in some ways give in to pressure from the president on this because the economy is looking weaker. but here's the thing, we just had a recent rate cut. it doesn't appear to be working , and if you look at a lot of data and what you are hearing from companies in america, they are concerned about the trade dispute and th uncertainty, and they want to see an end to that. that is what might help things rather than any cut in interest rates at the moment. laura: michelle fleury, thank you. now to shocking reves about the scale of plastic pollution. scientts have confirmed they found particles of plastic falling in snow in the arctic. the cause is tiny particles carried from the winds from thousands of miles away. it is alarming for all who live there, the people and animals. our environmental analyst traveled to the arctice as the research was being carried out. here is his special report.

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acreporter: the arctic, a of pristine beauty. smothered with snow, clean and pure. or that is how it appears. but it is an illusion. arctic sw is tainted with micro plastics and rubber particles and clothing fibers. given the amount of pollution in the atmosphere, this is perhapss hardly surg that we are finding micro plastics in snow. but we have such a strong belief in the essential purity of this stuff that some people will find this news rather shockin dr. melanie bergman led the research. the first stage invo bit of low technology, a dessert spoon and a flask. >> i think we are not treating our planet very thoughtfully. basically, we produce all the

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packaging materials, we cover everything in polymer-based varnish, we use a lot of rubber, which we also find in snow samples, and don't even think about what is happening to this in the environment. reporter: but few pele live here. where on eartho the pollutants me from? >> we know that most of what we are analyzing over there and measuring are long-range transported pollution coming from the continent, coming from asia, coming from l over the world. some of these chemicals have properties that are a thre for the ecosystem and animals. reporter: scientists have found that air and sea currents drive pollutants north. st year we broke the news that arctic sea ice had more micro plastics than anywhere in the ocean, because floating

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particles get bonded into the ice as it freezes.nd we foulastic pollution on the arctic beaes. some of this debris had drifted for thousands of miles. tourists sll trek here to experience what appears to be wilderness, creating own pollution on the way.s how do locel about plastic in snow? >> im here to show pure and clean snow, dogs, and the arctic nature. that is what i hope to do for the rest of my life. if it continues this way, we will not be able to. >> we have to do something. we it is not good news, bu must not give up. y>> up he look around you every d and you see something that you think is the pristine arctic, as it is called.d is not anymore.

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we see it every day, and it is really, really sad. reporter: here is the truth -- there is nowhere on the planetll to escape ion from us, however hardou run. laura: now that plastic is in r snow and oceans, how do we get rid of it? one of jeffrey epstein's accusers is suing his estate, saying he groomed her fowhsex she was 14 years old. this comes as the investigation continues as to how mr. epstein was able to kill himself in his jail cell. the bbc's nada tawfik is tracking the development from new york and joined us a short time ago. what can you tell us about this woman who is suing epstein's estate? presumably many others could follow her example. nada: exactly, laura. jennifer araoz was saying in the lawsuit that jeffrey epstein was

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repeatedly sexually assaulting her and grew more aggressive over the course of a year, and ntded finally with a brutal rape, at which phe basically ran away and even dropped out of school to not see epstein. she said this was made possibley is associates, women she referred to as a recruiter, a secretary, a maid. she said when she was 14 years old outside her high school, a brunette in her 20's introduced her to epstein. she also claims that ghislaine maxwell, daughter of british publishing magnate robert maxwell, scheduled for her to meet privately with epstein when the sexual assault began. she even claims that ghislaine maxwell made sure there were three yo at jeffrey epstein's mansion. i must add that we tried to reach out to ghislaine maxwell for comment but she has seways denied tllegations. laura: what has come to light about the prison guards who were supposed to be looking at

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epstein on the night he killed himself? nada: according to law enforcement sources who have spoken to cbnews, they say the guards were actually asleep for three hours and they hadalsely recorded that they were checking on jeffrey epstein every 30 minutes. of course now the questions about falsifying federal records, whether that is in fa a crime. instead, these guards, it said,o did not followcol. the fbi is investigating all of this, trying to speak to those two guards, reviewing cameraom quotage he prison. another lingerintion is why jeffrey epstein was taken off suicide watch. that is another investigation that the bureau of prisons is looking into, looking at what protocols were followed there. laura: nada tawfik, thank you. o er news, u.s. rapper asap rocky has been found guilty of ction with aon fight in stockholm.

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a swish court has given him two-year suspended sentence and ordered him to pay damages to the victim. two members of asap rocky's entourage were found guilty of the very same charge. today the hong kong international airport was open and operating again after tuesday's scen of chaos and violence. demonstrators were handing out leaflets apologizing for the disruption, but the protests continued elsewhere wit police using teargas outside a police station in kowloon. y e u.s. commerce secretarys it is an internal matter between china and hong kong. for more, i spoke with from the eurasia group. does this seem that it could be a tipping point in this conflict to you? >> we ven't gotten to that point yet, but it is becoming a much more serious issue, and it is becoming something that beijing is getti more and more worried about, which could lead he more extremist measures.

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but we have not rethe tipping point yet, no. laura: when the u.s. commerce secretary callthis an internal matter, ishat music to the chinese ears? >> they certainly appreciate it. it is inresting that it is the commerce secretary saying that, because one of the rsons the u.s. has taken a more hands-off approach when it comes toin critic china is for the u.s. and the trump administration, priority number one is the trade war. they do not want to jeopardize any possible progress that could be made. now, that being said, if talkswn break ven further, it is possible you are going to see much more rhetoric out of washington in support of the protesters. laura: well, president trump has even used china's rhetoric, at one point calling the protests riots. how big a shift is this from the traditional u.s.otosition of prg democracy around the world?

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leon: well, it is a major shift, but it did not start with donald tr donald trump has made his priorities much more easily seen, but the realitis that we are seeing a u.s. that its global leadership role is waning, and this startedldefore donarump. a lot of americans don't want to play the role of glol policeman. this is something that donald trump leaned his shoulder into and it helped him win the u.s. presidency two and a half years ago. laura: is there any ility of a negotiated end to the protests in hong kong? is there a compromise position? leon: it is certainly ible, but we are far from that point at this point. for xi jinping, this is the greatest threat to his tenure as chinese president. a he needs to taard line h because created this

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image and persona of himself as a strongman leader. these protests are a direct threat to that persona ura: when you look at the position of hong kong's chief executive, carrie lam, is itt possible tina will pull the rug under her, or are they 100% behind her? leon: for the time being they have shown themselves to be behind her, and pullg the rug out from her would be giving the protesters what they want, and china is super cognizant about not doing that. laura: what do you think the next movis by the protesters? leon: well, they have realizedak thatg such aggressive actions is not doing them any favors with the larger hong kong populace at large. if anything, it is helping china make the case for them that these people are not representative of the hong kong popula as a whole. and they don't want to do that. antheyto show themselves as part of that, representing the will of the hong kong people. so they are more likely to tone

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down over the next few days. laura: leon levy, thanks so much r being with us. you are watching "bbc world news america."om still toon tonight's program, as we mark 50 years since the troubles began in northern ireland, survivors of that traumatic time are still haunted by the mental scars. laura: pakistan's prim minister, imran khan, as is global powers would be responsible if war broke out with india over kashmir because they failed to implement united nations resolutions on the status. secunder kermani has more on the story. secunder: coming to address the local parliament in pakistani-in minister kashmir, imran khan seemed to have two audiences in mind, a domestic want an international one. speaking to pakistanis and those

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living in kashmir, imran about to become an ambassador for the kashmiri people taking up theve cause with india at e possible forum. sticking to the international community, he tried to galvanize opinion by comparing the eoidgy of the ruling right-wing par in india to the nazi party in germany in the 1930's and 1940's. he called on the united nations to take action to resolvehis growing crisis in kashmir. prime min. khan: you the united nations, where you stand by your security council resolutions on kashmir? ife the powerful press week, can the u.n. do nothing? does the united nations only work when the powerful want it to? secunder:se we will have t how successful this diplomatic offensive by imran khan will be. so far, th international reaction to developments in

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indian-administered kashmir have been muted. it is not quite clear what the next steps for pakistan could be, but pakistani officials have said they are not considering military action unless indiki launches som of strike against them first. pakistani officials want to appear to be the more reasonable ones in this dispute. tensions in an already volatile gion are ctainly rising. laura: now, tv ads try to catch our eye and make us laugh, but in the u.k., two have been pulled for violating rules banninger the use of gend stereotypes. the first from a car company showed men working on a space station while a woman is left to watch over a pram.

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the second was selling cream cheese, but complaints came in about how fathers were portrayed. take a look. ew>>ad, too? >> mmh-hmm >> wow, look at this lunch. >> hard to choose.d. this looks goo >> that's the philadelphia. : laubrief time ago i spoke with kim sheehan, a professor at the university of oregon and author of "controversies in contemporary advtising." what is your reaction to the u.k. advertising standards agency banning ads on they grounds that trpetuate gender stereotypes? kim: i think it is a very courageous act by the asa, and i think it can lead to better portrayals of men and women in all u.k. advertising. laura: do you think it is something we could seehever here in.s. as well? k so.don't th mmercial speech, which advertising is in the united

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states, has pretty broadpr ections under the first amendment, as long as the product is a legal product and the claims being made are true then the speech is unlikely to be banned. laura: companies all over the world have always used humor to sell us products. how do they navigate this new world? kim: when there is humor thatro pokes fun at a or presents a group in a bad light, that isn't necessarily funny to everybody. one of the challenges with the philadelphia cream cheese ad is the company took an ope about men being bad dads that we have seen over and over again in advertising and re-created that in a way that was not new orh fr even funny and could be insulting to a lot of men who are great dads who know how toke

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are of their kids. laura: is this partly about the fact that the ad agency world is traditionally male and white, and perhaps it needs to diversify anreflect its client base? kim: i think that is very true. i looked up the statistics on the u.k. advertisi industry, and in the corporate suites, 95% of the people are white and 70% are men. we are not seeing a lot of dingrsity in the decision-ma level, so it is sort of not surprising we are not seng -- that we are seeing these gender stereotypes in advertising still. laura: to those people who think this is political correctness gone wrong, what would you say? kim: i think what the asa has done send a clear signal to advertisers on what is atappropriate and sn't. to push advertisers to spend a

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little bit more time thinking about the people they portray in their advertising, i don't think that is a bad thing. i i think easy to revert to a stereotype that pops into your mind immediately, and if these rulings help advertisers just be a little more thoughul about the choices they make, i think it is going to improve advertising in the u.k laura: professor kim sheehan,th k you very much for joining us. kim: you are very welcome. ura: 50 years after violenceou brokin northern island, there are still deep scars from the conflict known as the troubles. overhree decades, more than 3000 people were killed, and northern ireland has a high rate of mental illness after all the trauma. sr ireland correspondent has been speaking to tcarred by the past. reporter: half a century ago, life in northern ireland took on a grim new normality. shootings, bombings, and riots became routine.

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the dreadful rhythm of murders and maimings cfotinued 30 years. while the conflict can feel a long way in the past, the legacy of trauma is very present. denise is one of thousands of people living with it. loyalists gunman attacked her parents at their family home in 1975. her father w killed. denise was just 4. >> i can see my mother going out through the kitchen window. i can remember going back up the hallway, looking at my brother. he was 13 months at the time. i then went back with my father. which we now know was for over two hours. my nightress was covered in his blood. reporter: she has posttraumatic stress disorder, which means asm certail brings memories suddenly and terribly.

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>> once the smell comes over me, it i i get the shakes.ck. my legs become white. my mind becomes blan --until that passet can pass within a few seconds, it can pass within a few minutes. thbut forest of the day, it is like you are beaten black an. bl reporter: mental health is a much more public issue now thand it wing the decades of violence. members of emergency services llregularly witnessed appag scenes. there were not offered official help. bob pollock remembers what happened after he anefsome fellow fhters were caught up in a bomb. >> as we getnto the station, one of the senior officershe poured us all and brandy and folders. to drink up and go home reporter: lack of su time partly explains why the

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psychological impact has only been revealed recent years. researcherhave found 39% of people in northern ireland experienced a traumatic event during the troubles. at least 14% have mental-health difficulties due to the conflict. post-traumatic stress disorder is particularly common. almost 9% have definitive signs of the condition. t perts are concerned by w called trans-generational trauma, the effect on children day. >> it is about the parents' own mental health, the community the child is raised in. it is also about the legacy of the conflict. we have communities affected by unemployment. there is drug use, low levels of educational attainment. all of these things come together to create anth environment can be quite toxic for a child. reporter: northern ireland has the highest rate of mental-health problems and suicides in the u.k. it also has proportionally lower levels of funding for mental health. the hated history of this

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place is posing huge challenges for its future. the survivors who have chosen to talk about their grief often did not do so for a long time. many have recently tried to seek out counseling, like denise. >> it sometimes pains me to go -- "oh gosh, i have to go here again." but i know i have to continue as because i don't want in 20 or 30 years or en less to hit the wall. laura: denise on living with a trauma of the troubles. you can nd much more on all the day's news on her website. to see what we're working on at any time, do make sure to check us out on twitter.ve i am laura tan. thank you for watching "world news america." announcer: funding for this presentatiopo is madible by... the freeman foundation; by judy and peter blum-kovler foundation,

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pursuiic solutions for ams neglected needs; and by contributions to this pbs station from viewers like yo thank you. to make sure fdrts and the truth are iving conversation. "washington week" is an island of civil dcourse in a chaotic media environment. on friday night, we gather the best reporters in the nation to unpack what's really happening and have a conversation that's not about point of view but abforming the american people. announcer: "washington week," friday nights only on pbs.

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captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> nawaz: good evening. i'm amna naw. judy woodruff is away. on the newshour tonight: the eye of the storm. at a moment of relative calm in hong kong, anxiety mounts over how beijing will respond to the pro-democracotestors. then, warning signs. the stock market plungesoamid a rollerer of volatility. where is the u.s. economy headed, and what are the concerns over another recession? and, troubled waters. the deadly risk of a contaminated drinking supply takes a toll on a neighborhood in the shadow of a coal plant. >> my husband died from cancer. mary ann next door died from cancer. you can't tell me these people, just because they're past 50, it's normal for them to get